Haxo of Coldwater rubbed his eyes, watching the streets of Attre from the window of his carriage. Everything seemed normal at first glance, but the castellan could sense the undercurrent of unease in the people. Mothers clutched their children a bit too close, pedestrians walked fast, casting furtive looks around themselves and merchants hawked their wares quietly.

  He was glad to be of service, especially when his actions might truly help his homeland, but he’d be lying if he said he was eager to assume his new post in Attre. He understood the logic. While there were other nobles Calanthé could have entrusted Attre to, Haxo’s family had barely any influence. His position as Cintra’s Castellan was won purely through blood and steel, and he had proven himself trustworthy many times over since assuming his post.

  In other words, even if he wanted to go against the Queen, he did not have the influence to do so. At least safely, of course. Were he to attempt to do so regardless, he’d be turned into a disposable pawn faster than an eye could blink by whatever faction he’d court, and he was smart enough to know that, while the Queen knew him well enough to know that he knew.

  Haxo chuckled, waving at a small child who was staring at his carriage, before the likely father quickly dragged the boy away. He didn’t hold such machinations against Calanthé. The trust of a leader, of a monarch, had to be different from the trust of the common people by necessity. A farmer could afford to trust unconditionally, to show kindness depending on his whims. Things were different for a ruler. Haxo would think less of the Queen were she to trust him blindly, even if she needn't worry. As long as Calanthé worked for the greater good of Cintra, she'd have his unwavering loyalty, especially in such turbulent times.

  Soon, the carriage stopped inside the castle courtyard, and Haxo got off, examining the place. Compared to ancient splendor of Cintra’s, it wasn’t much, but the walls were sturdy and intact. He had half expected the entire structure to have been turned into rubble.

  “Ah, Castellan, or is it Regent now?” A young female voice brought him out of his musings.

  He turned his head towards the sorceress, “Lady von Degurechaff,” he inclined his head. The woman was still wearing that, frankly, creepy-looking suit of armour, complete with the helmet. Three of the Royal Guards sent with her flanked her, “Edwyn, Ambrosi, Habata,” he greeted.

  The three offered nods of their own, though their eyes didn’t stop roving around the courtyard. He noted the pride in their postures with some disquiet.

  “Regent now,” he answered her question, turning back towards Tanya. Haxo was a knight and a veteran, yet he couldn’t help but feel the tingle of unease that was beginning to creep upon him as he spoke with the sorceress. He knew, logically, that underneath that armour was a fairly pleasant young woman, but he also knew that she had recently slaughtered a whole room of people, men and women alike. People whose job he was here to assume.

  “I had not thought the Queen would send you, Regent,” she stated, the question obvious in her voice, even if she was too polite to ask outright.

  “My low birth… won’t be much of an issue here,” Haxo answered, seeing no harm in satisfying Degurechaff’s curiosity. While a knight was above commoners, the title wasn’t much better in the eyes of the nobility. Ordinarily, a knight assuming the role of a Regent over an entire duchy would spark a lot of outrage, if not worse.

  Of course, there’d have to be some nobles left to feel such outrage, while Attre was suffering a critical shortage at this point. The rest of Cintra was too busy digesting the implications of that to give much thought to Haxo’s new role, apart from the obvious. The Queen had a new executioner, and she wasn’t afraid to use her against those who didn’t toe the line. As far he understood, that was one of the effects Calanthé wanted to convey when she sent Degurechaff to Attre, if slightly stronger than desired.

  Degurechaff nodded, apparently satisfied. Acting like nothing was wrong.

  As if almost the entire leadership of the duchy wasn’t wiped out just a few weeks ago.

  Which was the real reason why he was here, really. Calanthé couldn’t risk the Duchy falling to chaos and famine, something which the young sorceress likely did not realise was a possibility, were her curt reports any indication. You couldn’t purge the entire leadership of a duchy without also crippling its administration.

  “Come, let's move to the late Duke’s solar. The sooner we are done, the sooner I can return to Marnadal,” Tanya spoke, indicating the gate.

  Haxo nodded. Thoughts swirling as he followed. He had little doubt that he was about to inherit a right mess, but he’d rather figure out how bad it was quickly, instead of letting his imagination run wild.

  The walk passed quickly as Haxo’s mind was occupied, until they entered the great hall, where the newly-appointed Regent knew the massacre occurred. His eyes roamed around the room, but there was not a single blood stain, though the tablecloth was absent.

  A part of him had expected to see severed limbs littering the room.

  He shook his head slightly.

  The sorceress led him through the hall, into the corridors at the back of it, and eventually into the solar.

  Haxo looked around. The walls were adorned by Attre’s heraldry, a sword entwined with ivy. Sunlight filtered in through narrow windows, catching on the many weapons that lined the walls. Swords, halberds, flails, weapons both practical and decorative.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Degurechaff beelined straight for a heavy oak table that sat near the hearth, filled with papers, quickly lifting a stack, leafing through it and handing him one of the papers.

  Haxo’s eyes quickly glanced over it, his brow furrowing, “Middle management?” He questioned.

  “An apt way to call the minor nobility here, no? With the abrupt restructuring that took place, I made it my responsibility to properly familiarise myself with the inheritors. The ones marked with stars are those likely to cause trouble,” she explained.

  Indeed, the paper contained most of Attre’s nobility, with those who had lost relatives in the… restructuring highlighted, along with their rightful inheritors. Part of his mind still refused to make the connection with the pleasant, if slightly cold, young woman he knew, and the Butcher of Attre. The armour helped with that, but it still wasn’t quite real in his mind.

  “Now, this one might interest you more,” she spoke again, handing him another paper from the top of one neat pile. This one was just a list of names, Seven to be precise. One knight, four barons, one viscount, and one count.

  “What’s this?” He asked, peeling his eyes from the girl who could kill him in a second and not lose a wink of sleep over it.

  “They’ve all been in contact with Duke Baldemar, beginning shortly after the Queen announced the construction of the fortress, but I could not find any previous correspondence. Upon questioning some of the staff, it seems that the Duke had little to no contact with any of them previously,” she paused, “Which isn’t that surprising, considering the scattered nature of their holdings.”

  Haxo’s brow furrowed, “You are suggesting a… conspiracy?”

  Degurechaff shrugged, “Hard to say. What correspondence remains is innocuous enough, but Attre’s treasury did receive a significant infusion around the same time with no explanation as to the source anywhere. If something similar occurred elsewhere… should be more than possible to confirm, no?”

  Haxo grimaced, “Count Borivoj is known to have significant debts.”

  He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he felt the coming of a headache. What the sorceress had was proof of nothing, but they couldn’t afford to ignore it either. Unfortunately, Degurechaff might have forced Calanthé’s hand there. Into inaction, that is. For now, at least.

  The former castellan stared at the sorceress in silence for a few moments. At least it lent more credence to her claim of treason for the Attre nobility. The Royal Guards had corroborated Degurechaff’s account, but he had been ordered to keep his eyes peeled regardless. It was possible that the girl had charmed them with some foul magic or some such, though it was a bit of a stretch. While the queen had tried to keep her emotions from her face, Haxo had been serving her for a long enough time to understand her feelings on this entire matter well enough.

  “I have also done some accounting,” the sorceress spoke, “There was enough embezzlement and idiocy to double the road patrols,” she shook her head, some disdain entering her voice, “Just slashing the clothing budget of the Duchess to a sixth was enough to pay for most of that. It should help secure the Attre-Marnadal route properly, which will hopefully allow the construction to stay on track.”

  Haxo blinked. Apparently, her last report wasn’t some fluke, “It seems you have an affinity with numbers, Lady Degurechaff.”

  At least some good news. A fortress was useless if it couldn’t be properly supplied, and Attre was in the best position for that.

  She nodded distractedly, leafing through the papers, before giving him a few more, which he only glanced at.

  The two stared at each other in silence for a few moments as Haxo thought.

  “You are to go to the Capital first,” he eventually continued.

  Tanya von Degurechaff tilted her head, “Is that an order from her Majesty?”

  “Yes,” Haxo breathed out, “What has happened here is… unprecedented,” he said, before hastening to explain once he noticed the slight narrowing of her eyes, “There is little doubt that your actions were lawful, but the situation is rather… volatile.”

  Indeed, justified or not, there were many amongst Cintra’s aristocracy who would see Attre as a purge of dissenters. Some would cheer, their voices both false and sincere. Some would keep their heads down and some would immediately imagine themselves in the place of Duke Baldemar.

  An all-around dangerous situation, especially with enemies lurking south.

  Her eyes sharpened, “The traitors then…” She trailed off.

  Haxo nodded, “It is unlikely the Crown will be able to act decisively in the matter.”

  “That is unfortunate,” the sorceress said, in perhaps the understatement of the century.

  “Unfortunate indeed,” Haxo concurred. If Degurechaff noticed the tinge of sarcasm in his voice, she made no mention of it.

  “It is also why you shall report to the Queen directly,” Haxo continued. Like it or not, Degurechaff had become a central piece in Cintra’s internal politics, “Entrusting such a sensitive matter to a messenger would be… ill-advised.”

  Especially since this might very well launch a civil war. Justified or not, if Calanthé’s detractors realised that the Crown was looking to get rid of even more nobles, they might come to some, as Degurechaff put it, unfortunate conclusions.

  Degurechaff nodded, her face thoughtful, “Perhaps, it is an opportunity for the intelligence agency to prove its worth. Has Her Majesty settled on a name?”

  Haxo blinked, “Yes, Cintran Intelligence.”

  Degurechaff hummed, “Opportunities multiply as they are seized,” her piercing eyes found Haxo’s, as she said what he guessed was a quote of some sort, “Very well, Regent. I shall leave Attre in your capable hands. It will be good to check on the progress of Her Highness.”

  The Regent smiled, “The Princess will be happy to see you, I am sure. I have heard she had been most… inconsolable, after your departure.”

  The sorceress looked genuinely surprised at that, confusing Haxo. Surely she knew that the young princess favoured her greatly over her other tutors by now?

  “Ah, I will make sure to visit her, of course. It is a pity that my duties take me away from the Capital. I look forward to the day I may return to the peace of the royal castle.”

  Haxo stared, “I believe you are not the only one.”